Ebay's Import Charges

[Lady Starflower]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but I just wanted to ask everyone if they've noticed more and more of ebay's import charges?

What's up with those?

[moving to Trader Support ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

[ponylady]

I am not really understanding your question?? Are you speaking of the import taxes you are charged when your item arrives due to the value declared on the package?

Because Ebay does not charge import fee's, that is your government charging you taxes basically 

[Lady Starflower]

No not that. When I look at some auctions from the US it shows a shippig fee then an import charge then below that it says estimate total at checkout. But it's not on all auctions, just some so I was wondering is that new? And why only on some?

[CupidStrikes]

I think I heard that Ebay has begun to offer a service where you can pay import charges in advance? In many countries where you have to pay import charges you are often also charged a pretty hefty flat-rate handling fee per package, so some couriers have begun to offer a service whereby you pay the import tax in advance and thus don't have to pay a handling fee, or wait whilst the package is held in customs, and evaluated for charges etc etc so it's really handy for those of us living in those countries

I'm not sure why it's only on some auctions, though. Maybe depending on available of such a service?

(this is only what I've heard, so I could be totally wrong)

[Lady Starflower]

That makes sense thanks CupidStrikes.

[ponylady]

Ok thank you for clearing that up. The reason your seeing this on only some listings is because the seller has to sign up for EBay's new Global Shipping Program. It's a third party service basically. The seller does not have to deal with shipping abroad, the item gets sent to a central location and they mail the item to you. I believe that by paying those fees upfront like they are asking you will not have any additional charges when your item arrives.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/shipping-globally.html

[Lady Starflower]

Oh ok I gotcha. Thanks so much PonyLady

[Zombelina]

(Canadian rant about this ahead )

This new Global Shipping program is EXTREMELY frustrating as someone living in Canada, because we don't *usually* get hit with customs fees on packages from US individuals that come through the regular post (not UPS/couriers--looks like this Global Shipping thing uses a courier). I'd MUCH rather take my chances with our customs than pay a certain set fee upfront--and by much rather, I mean I simply won't buy from the sellers who've got this enabled! I'm really glad to hear it's useful for folks in some countries and situations at least, because for US/Canada transactions it's instead just a huge impediment. I'm just simply not going to pay an extra $10-20+ upfront to have it shipped (by courier?) through this program when there's a 95% probability if sent via regular old USPS it would've gone through Canadian customs without fees.

At least Amazon.com, when they charge an upfront import fee, you can request for it to be refunded if your package didn't get hit by customs after all. From what I can see, not so with this new ebay program...

/rant 

[Lady Starflower]

(Canadian rant about this ahead )

This new Global Shipping program is EXTREMELY frustrating as someone living in Canada, because we don't *usually* get hit with customs fees on packages from US individuals that come through the regular post (not UPS/couriers--looks like this Global Shipping thing uses a courier). I'd MUCH rather take my chances with our customs than pay a certain set fee upfront--and by much rather, I mean I simply won't buy from the sellers who've got this enabled! I'm really glad to hear it's useful for folks in some countries and situations at least, because for US/Canada transactions it's instead just a huge impediment. I'm just simply not going to pay an extra $10-20+ upfront to have it shipped (by courier?) through this program when there's a 95% probability if sent via regular old USPS it would've gone through Canadian customs without fees.

At least Amazon.com, when they charge an upfront import fee, you can request for it to be refunded if your package didn't get hit by customs after all. From what I can see, not so with this new ebay program...

/rant 

This is exactly what I was thinking. I think I'm just not going to buy from sellers that have this. I understand its great for other countries but for Canadians its a huge pain and yet another fee. Shipping is bad enough then we add this fee...no thanks

[Thunderwing]

(Canadian rant about this ahead )

This new Global Shipping program is EXTREMELY frustrating as someone living in Canada, because we don't *usually* get hit with customs fees on packages from US individuals that come through the regular post (not UPS/couriers--looks like this Global Shipping thing uses a courier). I'd MUCH rather take my chances with our customs than pay a certain set fee upfront--and by much rather, I mean I simply won't buy from the sellers who've got this enabled! I'm really glad to hear it's useful for folks in some countries and situations at least, because for US/Canada transactions it's instead just a huge impediment. I'm just simply not going to pay an extra $10-20+ upfront to have it shipped (by courier?) through this program when there's a 95% probability if sent via regular old USPS it would've gone through Canadian customs without fees.

At least Amazon.com, when they charge an upfront import fee, you can request for it to be refunded if your package didn't get hit by customs after all. From what I can see, not so with this new ebay program...

/rant 

This is exactly what I was thinking. I think I'm just not going to buy from sellers that have this. I understand its great for other countries but for Canadians its a huge pain and yet another fee. Shipping is bad enough then we add this fee...no thanks

What these others two have said, I will third!  I wouldn't buy from a seller with this 'feature' either. For the same reason - I only get charged a customs fee on about one out of twenty parcels, all worth $100 or more. And when they do charge, I can usually appeal it successfully because of some error on the form.

[Ren-Ren]

I think the benefit of this system is more for the US sellers rather than the buyers. There have been so many international scammers who claim not to receive their packages; if you don't have tracking to prove it was delivered (which is expensive and not always dependable) then eBay always sides with the buyer.  I almost never sell outside the US anymore except by using this service because the risk is just too high. But this way I can offer my items internationally and not worry about being scammed. So far no one has purchased from me using it, but at least they have the option to do so if they're desperate enough for the item.

[Lady Starflower]

That is a good point. I hate how eBay always sides with the buyers. If you can produce a copy of a receipt or proof that item has been sent they should side with the seller.

[Zombelina]

Yeah, totally agree. It really sucks how ebay always sides with the buyer. As someone who both buys and sells stuff internationally on ebay I'm forever crossing my fingers and blindly hoping I'm not dealing with a jerk 

It makes me sad that this Global Shipping thing is ebay's "solution" though. I mean, it's good that sellers who didn't offer international shipping before might do so now; but... when the import fee is so crazy, I'm not going to buy. Same as before. And I get my hopes up when I see something actually ships to Canada only to be floored by an import fee I can't afford (and don't want to afford when I know there'd be no fee if it was just shipped USPS), so I just close the tab and forget it, even if I really wanted the item. So, back at square one.

Scammers, ugh! Spoiling things for everyone